Montecristo (non-cuban)

[ggiese]

A friend of mine who is a completely new smoker had purchased a few cigars from a shop up in Olathe KS after I had expressed to him my new found love to cigars.. One of the sticks he purchased was a montecristo and he informed me that they were indeed spectacular. I finally convinced myself to blow a few extra bucks and try one out, although I dont recall which one it was so i'll have to look through my archive. (my 3ringnotebook where I document my smokes and tape the band on, i know theres got to be a better way of doing this so I may do a search to see how others document their smokes and store their bands, I was thinking about a laminator.. anyways back on topic). The cigar was very good and it seemed to be very smooth and mild to medium bodied. It cost around 8-9 bones and was about the smallest one next to the petite ones in the tins/small boxes...

I dont think ive ever seen a montecristo with a maduro wrapper, do they roll any in that fashion? (UTFSE!! I know I know, im a newbie) Sorry, Padron my French err Pardon(sp) heh i wonder how many times thats been told.. what about, Perdoma my french, .. ill stop.

Montecristo does have cigars in a maduro wrapper, although they are not easy to find. They are a nice cigar, but nothing to write home to mom about (the ones I've had are a little bit tight in the draw - probably due to the smaller ring gauge).

Montecristo's tend to be a little bit on the pricey side. They are nice, but I don't know if they deserve the price, even though I find myself buying them from time to time.

You mention Padron (by accident or on purpose) - they are nice cigars, especially for the price. If you can find the Anniversary series cigars (although they are on the pricey side and typically hard to find) - those are a VERY nice cigar.

Perdomo's are a nice smoke as well. Especially for the price! There are mixed reviews on the Edicion de Silvio's - but I'm a fan.

Another one in that same price range are the Sancho Panza - the double maduro is a very nice cigar.

The key to this whole thing - sample cigars and find what your tastes are. Everyone enjoys different smokes for different reasons. I think half the fun of smoking cigars is experimenting!!! (although I don't enjoy tossing a cigar because it just wasn't meant for me) It's great to find a new smoke you really enjoy...

And keeping a journal is a GREAT way to record your experiences, especially while you're new at it. After a while you start to see the pattern of likes and dislikes (wrappers, sizes, brands, etc.) There are even pre-printed books out there (Cigar Journal ,) There was actually a thread started by Roham a while back about Cigar Band Journals:

http://www.cigarsmokers.com/t495-cig...d-journal.html

[entheomation]

Thank you kindly for that lengthy reply.
A friend of mine who is not a regular cigar smoker (only machinys) and somehow he ended up with one of those Padron anniversary cigars with a serial number. A friend of his gave it to him and told him it was a Cuban cigar and it is currently only in a baggie (One with a picture of a tobacco field and a few individuals if my memory serves me right, looked like something I saw on an opusX add..) along with a small baggie humidifier...I imagine we should either smoke it or stick it in one of my humidors.

You mention the Pancho sanza dub mad.. I went out to the smoke shop yesterday and bought one simply because of the posts here. I purchased the size larger than the quixotlewhatchamacallit (sp?) , i was going to get that one but thought I would rather get a size bigger. I also purchased Cusano Corojo 97 and an 18, A Compay (I know NOTHING about these cigars), Carlos T Exodus 1959 on sale for 2.50 (oh ya!), and the CT Signiture collection also on sale for $3.00.. Too bad they dont have the casa's which are fabulous.

[ggiese]

Thank you kindly for that lengthy reply.
A friend of mine who is not a regular cigar smoker (only machinys) and somehow he ended up with one of those Padron anniversary cigars with a serial number. A friend of his gave it to him and told him it was a Cuban cigar and it is currently only in a baggie (One with a picture of a tobacco field and a few individuals if my memory serves me right, looked like something I saw on an opusX add..) along with a small baggie humidifier...I imagine we should either smoke it or stick it in one of my humidors.

You mention the Pancho sanza dub mad.. I went out to the smoke shop yesterday and bought one simply because of the posts here. I purchased the size larger than the quixotlewhatchamacallit (sp?) , i was going to get that one but thought I would rather get a size bigger. I also purchased Cusano Corojo 97 and an 18, A Compay (I know NOTHING about these cigars), Carlos T Exodus 1959 on sale for 2.50 (oh ya!), and the CT Signiture collection also on sale for $3.00.. Too bad they dont have the casa's which are fabulous.

The Padron Anniversary cigar is not a Cuban, but is a NICE cigar - that's the one I mentioned in my post as being a bit pricey, but very nice... The Fuente humi-bag you mention will keep it okay for a while, as long as you keep is sealed, but should not be used for long term storage. It will dry out and become unsmokeable... A waste of a great cigar.. If you've got a humidor, by all means - put it in there. Better yet, smoke it!! It's a great cigar!!!

Sancho Panza - great call!!! Good smoke for the money!! The Cusano Corojo is very nice - I like the Corojo wrapper - very tasty. The Carlos Torano Exodus 1959 (probably the gold label, I assume) is a very nice cigar for the money as well (I happen to like the silver labels a bit more, but it's a matter of personal tastes). Not heard of the CT Signature collection... But, all are very nice cigars - you should enjoy them!!!

While looking around the cigar shop - ask about the PS (Private Stock) or SB - Special Blend. These are generally factory seconds from the AVO / Griffin / Davidoff factories. Both are very nice cigars and are VERY cheap. I especially like the PS in the aluminum tubes (they are Robusto size), and the PS in the Churchill size (the big ones...). Both cigars are in the $2.00 - $5.50 range). For an every day smoke, they won't break the bank.

[entheomation]

Yes the Torano is the 'gold label' I guess since its simply called and stocked as "CT Exodus 1959 and the silver actually has the word Silver in its title, I defaulted to simply CTE59 -gold. I understand this is a rather touchy subject so i'll tread lightly when speaking of them :\.

I am smoking the Carlos Torano Signiture series right now along with my Cappicino. I expected it to be a bit more heavy than the CTE59G but its very smooth and enjoyable so far. Here are some of my notes, Very well constructed. The smooth dark brown wrapper leaves look completely flawless like it was made by a machine. Little veins except one small one going right down the center in perfect harmony with the way the its wrapped together, like feng shui for the tobacco leaf. Initial soft milky taste immediately after light up, not the harshness that i'm use to especially for the first smoke in the morning.

I expected it to be much heavier and bite the tounge but its rather smooth. At first I had a bit of trouble with an uneven burn that was likely the result of my excitement and improper ignitition technique. I quickly solved this with a dab of saliva and another quick flash of a match. This immediatelly remedied it and a beautiful completely symetrical burn devoured it all the way down to where I am at now, which is the last 2-3 inches just. The burn is just meeting the second of the two very classy bands. The bottom most band is a silky smooth white background with a rich gold color beating the Carlos Torano signiture in an elegant cursive text with plain text stating 'Signiture Collection' depicting the particular make of this wonderful cigar. The top band is in the same color scheme with a nice CT logo and a gold castle on a felt green background which created a synergistic dissonance with the contrasting whitish, light grey ash.

As I blow the smoke out through my nose I can taste the distinct flavor of coffee, possibly more so than I have ever tasted it in the past with any other cigar. The smoke begins to ware on my toung a bit and is starting to leave that slight bite of a burning sensation, which usually happens when I start to reach this point on a cigar. Another pass of smoke out through my nose, which rather tickles a bit, is leaving me thinking that this may very well be my new favorite cigar. I do not recall the exact size of this specimen but I believe it may be the robusto or the toro. This cigar was on sale for $3.00 thanks to fathers day coming up. As I peel off the first and largest band of this wonderfull smoke the cigar is starting to reach its end. I believe this smoke is the Signiture series as it truely embodies the spirit of Carlos Torano. Rather than simply smolder and fade out this cigar is dying with the utmost dignity.

I will deffinately have to put this one up to the casa torano and compare as these are a bit cheaper. I smoked the Casa outdoors and the Signiture had the luxury of being consumed in the wee hours of the morning when my virgin pallate is clean from the toxic nicotine free air of the outside world. Poor guy, didn't even get to see his first sunrise. Thanks for letting me review this cigar, I hope I did okay.

I'm going to go ahead and make this a seperate post as I think it would get a bit more hits.I hope that is okay, if not maybe a mod can PM or edit it out of this post and toss me a warning for cross posting.

Best wishes to all and to all a good smoke,

-entheomation

[Drake]

i don't like the classics all that much. the white label and series V are great

[Kenyth]

The Monte Platinum is good. The Monte White label is one of the best mild cigars I've ever had! I look forward to trying the Peruvian. I haven't yet met a Torano cigar I didn't like.